


Perturbation Theory

by Paratale



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: First Date, First Kiss, Friends to Lovers, Local Ferengi Overthinks Everything, M/M, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-03
Updated: 2017-02-03
Packaged: 2018-09-21 17:16:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,484
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9559304
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Paratale/pseuds/Paratale
Summary: This has got to be a date,Nog told himself.It’s too awkward to be anything else.





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Isilanna (Betazoa)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Betazoa/gifts).



> I FINALLY FINISHED!!!! i cycled through at least three ideas before i landed on one that made it past the first couple of paragraphs. creative block was Bad this month. @isilanna, i hope you enjoy this and sorry for being late <3

Thirty minutes into dinner with Jake, and Nog still wasn’t sure if this was a date.

He wasn’t even sure what had made him ask his oldest friend to dinner in the first place. Nog hadn’t done anything so impulsive in years. (Well, maybe months.) There hadn’t been one singular factor driving him to do it; rather, a set of initial conditions had conspired to throw him out of equilibrium, and before he knew it he was stumbling over an unsettlingly ambiguous dinner invitation.

If Nog had to take a guess at what had set this all in motion, though, it would be Jake leaving the station to spend a year at that writing program on Earth he used to talk about. Apparently, he was offered another chance to attend once the war was over. They’d kept in touch, of course, but Nog hadn’t gone without seeing Jake for so long since he’d gone to study on Earth himself, and he hadn’t ever lived alone. He wouldn't say absence had made his heart grow fonder--more like given it a rude awakening.

He had ended up spending more time with his uncle than was probably advisable. Quark’s response to the situation, of course, was to tell Nog he’d better get used to the idea that he might not be seeing Jake again. “People are always moving on to other things,” he’d said. “Then their old lives don’t matter to them anymore.”

Nog had retorted that Quark seemed to be an exception to that rule, and Quark had sputtered something about how he actually had his ear on a nice little moon, thank you very much, and ran off somewhere to mix Morn’s drink. Never mind that Morn hadn’t ordered anything.

Try though he did, Nog never got used to comming Jake just once a week from his lonely downsized quarters. There were other people he missed--his father, who wanted to call more often but was very busy being the Grand Nagus, and his friends from the Academy, who occasionally stopped in to see him if their assignments took them through Deep Space Nine. But only Jake’s absence seemed to follow Nog everywhere. Nothing was the same without Jake around, even mundane things like doing laundry and sharpening his teeth.

Nog had known his feelings for Jake weren’t only platonic for a long time. He found himself paying a great deal more attention to his friend’s ears than any Human deserved, for one thing. But by the time he’d admitted that himself, there had been a war on, and then all of a sudden he’d lost his leg, and he wouldn’t have been able to bear it if his closest friendship had crumbled for any reason.

Besides, they had been living together for years, and they spent most of Nog’s off-duty time together. How much more could Nog ask?

Maybe this had all really started with the signing of the peace treaty, then…

“How’s the shrimp?” Jake asked.

Nog picked away at the fancy Bajoran food he had ordered. It was some sort of marine insect, and very nearly edible. “Not bad.” They’d spent the past half hour talking about Bajoran weather patterns. Then the food had finally come and they’d started talking about that.

 _This has got to be a date,_ Nog told himself. _It’s too awkward to be anything else._

He’d been on a few during his time at the Academy. They’d never gone anywhere, but it was more experience than most Ferengi had. On Ferenginar, people didn’t really date. They either got a contract or they kept their mouths shut.

As far as Human relationships went, though, Nog felt like they were doing it pretty backwards. Usually couples had a few awkward first dates before moving in together for the first time.

Jake was looking between Nog and his plate, eyebrows raised in amusement. “Are you going to finish those?”

Nog jumped. “Oh, um…”

Jake started picking shrimp off Nog’s plate, still doing that thing with his eyebrows. Nog felt himself blush, much to his dismay. Sharing precious resources like food with non-relatives was very nearly illicit on Ferenginar. Nog had been living among mostly Humans and Bajorans for years, so normally this wouldn’t faze him, but since it was Jake doing it…

When both their plates were finally empty, in a last minute attempt to drop a hint Nog insisted on paying for the meal, blushing furiously as he authorized the credit transfer.

They left the restaurant, and Nog started to worry this was the end of the whole thing. Just a meeting with a friend he hadn’t seen in a long time that had gone a lot more awkwardly than either of them had been expecting, but not a date. Jake would take it as a sign that it was time to move on from his childhood friendships, spend more time with other people, meet some nice Bajoran woman… Oh, no; Nog would probably have to go to the wedding--

“So, Nog,” said Jake, leading them down a little town road. They were actually headed in the opposite direction from the transport center, Nog noticed with a mix of anticipation and apprehension. “Why did you want to have dinner here?”

“Well,” said Nog cautiously, “you’ve been visiting Captain Sisko in the province, and I didn’t want to interrupt your visit too much, so…”

“He’s not a captain right now,” Jake reminded him. “I’m just saying, Lena’s is pretty fancy. And you paid for all of it. Are you about to ask me for a favor or something?” He teased.

Jake stopped and turned to his friend. “Nog.” His grin grew wider. His teeth were very straight and flat, but Nog thought they were nice. “Did you ask me here on a date?”

Nog opened his mouth and closed it again. Was Jake giving him an out? Giving him a chance to laugh it off and say of course not, silly?

The truth was that he’d blurted out his invitation after Jake had told him over the comm that he’d be staying with his father, Kasidy, and his new sibling for a while when he was finished with the writing program. For second--just long enough to ask his best friend out--he’d taken it as a sign that Jake was really moving on from Deep Space Nine, and his life had damn near flashed before his eyes. Except it was less his past he was seeing and more years stretching ahead without Jake around.

Nog didn’t say any of that, of course; just looked down at his feet. He couldn’t see Jake’s face, but he was standing close enough that he could hear his heart rate speed up.

Jake’s voice was still light, but had a nervous lilt to it when he spoke again. “I just need to know if I still have to make the first move.”

Several hours later, Nog would kick himself a bit for not responding with something cool and flirty (so he thought) like “batter up, then,” or something. But not too much, because they were way past first base by the time he thought of that, and he didn’t have time for regrets.

“Uh,” he said instead, looking up at Jake, mouth hanging open. “Do you… mean...”

Jake reached over and gently pushed Nog’s gaping mouth shut. Then he leaned down and kissed it.

“Whoah,” was all Nog could say after Jake pulled away.

“I hope that means you liked it,” Jake laughed. The nervous lilt was still there. Well, Nog couldn’t let that stand. He stood up on his tiptoes, belatedly realized he wasn’t tall enough to initiate a kiss, and pulled on Jake’s shoulder meaningfully until he bent down again.

This kiss lasted a lot longer than the previous one. “We should probably get out of the street,” said Nog when they stopped.

“Good thing there’s a hotel just a few blocks down.” Jake was grinning ear to little ear.

“Are you suggesting we get a room?” Nog laughed, leaning against Jake’s shoulder. The awkwardness of the date had passed, and this almost felt like old times. Not the same--certainly not the same--but just as good. “Wait, how did you know there was a hotel here? Sisko doesn’t live _that_ close.”

“I may have done a bit of research after you asked me out,” Jake admitted. “But I don’t want to go too fast or anything,” he added quickly, heart speeding up again. “We can always just--”

Nog grabbed his hand. “Jake. Don’t worry. I think we got the hardest part over with.”

“Oh, have we?” Jake waggled his eyebrows suggestively. Nog felt himself blushing again. Not that he and Jake had never made lewd jokes before, but now a whole new world of possibilities had opened up...

“Come on,” he tugged on Jake’s hand. “Let’s get that room.”


End file.
